


A Dream for the Future

by Senna_Frost



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alpha Cain (Supernatural), Alpha Castiel (Supernatural), Alpha Castiel/Omega Dean Winchester, Alpha Sam, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Confused Dean Winchester, Cults, Dean Winchester Needs Sam Winchester and Castiel, Dean Winchester Needs Therapy, Dean Winchester Needs a Hug, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Emotionally Hurt Dean Winchester, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Older Sibling Sam Winchester, Omega Dean, Younger Dean Winchester, Younger Dean Winchester/Older Sam Winchester, Younger Sibling Dean Winchester, mentions of rape/non-con, not Cas/Sam or Dean, not graphic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-29
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-07-04 03:10:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15832545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Senna_Frost/pseuds/Senna_Frost
Summary: That last morning, Dean awoke clear-eyed, as if finally surfacing from an endless, heavy dream, and he knew he had to leave.Thoughts and images jumbled up inside his brain and he couldn't seem to think.All he knew was that he just wanted to go home. He wanted his brother.Only one thought was on Sam's mind. Dean. His little brother. Gone. Missing for nearly three years. Back again, now, safe and sound, upstairs in the guest bedroom. Passed out asleep, huddled up in the fetal position like a frightened child.Where had he been? What the hell had happened to him?





	A Dream for the Future

**Author's Note:**

> I know...another WIP when I already have a boatload of others I should be working on instead. But considering the crippling writer's block I've had lately and the precious little time I've had to devote to writing at all, I'm kinda amazed this puppy got cranked out at all. However, after watching a movie called Martha Marcy May Marlene, I was very inspired and this idea just would NOT let go of me...so here. As you may have noticed in the tags, I switched things up and made Dean the younger brother for once. There will be brief, but not graphic or explicit mentions of rape/non-con, and I will warn for it in the appropriate chapter. This does have a happy ending, with Cas and Dean and Sam all happy together in a nice big puppy pile LOL

That last morning, Dean awoke clear-eyed, as if finally surfacing from an endless, heavy dream, and he knew he had to leave.

 

The morning light, flat and pearl gray, hung thick and close in the second floor room of the farmhouse. At his side, Benny snored softly, and a few feet away, Hannah and Inias were curled together, still asleep, as were the half a dozen other omegas and betas, sprawled out in nests of sleeping bags and blankets.

 

Dean rose carefully, nude as the day he was born, tiptoeing his way through piles of sleeping bodies, bottom lip clamped between his teeth, barely daring to breathe as he crept into the spare room off the main bedroom that served as a communal closet for nearly two dozen people.

 

He grabbed a cloth duffel bag that he recognized as his own and quickly pawed through the available clothing, going by scent, snatching anything that looked or smelt faintly like his familiar flannels and ratty jeans. It didn't really matter though. He hadn't come here with much anyways. Digging further back in one of the top shelves, he found his wallet and keys and stuffed them in his bag too.

 

He pulled on a pair of jeans that might have been his. He didn't bother trying to find underwear, too used to going around half naked anyways. But there was a chill this morning, so he pulled on a black t-shirt and layered a grey hoodie over it, pausing once he did to gaze around, the room he was in and the one beyond still quiet.

 

Dean slung the bag over his shoulder, padding barefoot out of the room, down the hall, descending the stairs, sense and muscle memory guiding him silently past all the creaky spots til he reached the bottom floor. He moved on autopilot, as if this had been the plan all along, a course of action lying in wait until his mind was as ready as his body seemed to be.

 

The screen door unlatched with a rough rasp of rusted metal and wood. Nearby, he could hear the hens clucking drowsily in their house; any moment now the rooster might start crowing.

 

He shoved his bare feet into one of the many pairs of boots lying discarded on the front porch, uncaring whose they were beyond the fact that they fit reasonably well. He spared a few seconds to swiftly lace them up before leaping soundlessly down the last three steps of the porch which were the creakiest of all.

 

He followed the gravel drive, past the pastures and fenced in areas where they kept the cows and goats, til it brought him to the country lane that lead ten miles back in to Tannersville. Dean glanced to the left, weighing his options.

 

He'd be too easy to track and pick up if he took the road, but straight ahead of him, the dark green shadow of the woods beckoned to him. It held a short cut they often took and before he had the chance to consciously acknowledge his decision, his legs were already moving him that way, breaking into a light jog as he ran across the road, down the dip of the embankment and vanished into the undergrowth.

 

Dean found himself in a dead run, as if all of hell were on his heels, dodging trees, relentlessly pressing forward as branches slapped him in the face. His heart was hammering so hard and fast in his chest that it ached. The light in the woods was dim, dreamlike and diffused, as though it were twilight instead of dawn. Suddenly, far behind him, he heard shouts, Benny perhaps.

 

“Michael! Where you goin'?”

 

Dean ran faster, breath burning in his lungs, eyes watering, feeling as though he was drowning and didn't stop.

 

~*X*~

 

Hunched over in a booth at the local diner, oddly named Mama's Boy, he sank his teeth into a huge juicy bite of a double bacon cheeseburger, relishing the harmony of flavors bursting to life on his tongue. He held the burger with both hands, elbows drawn in close to his chest, too used to sitting at a table with a fifteen other people. The bell over the door of the diner dinged cheerily and Dean glanced cagily over his shoulder.

 

Benny sauntered in, scanning the room before his eyes lit on Dean and he hurried over, sliding into the other side of the booth Dean occupied, faded red pleather crackling as he sat down.

 

“Michael! What are you doin' here, cher? We were worried about you.”

 

Dean's heartbeat ratcheted up, Benny's soft southern tones doing nothing to soothe him, instead turning the bites of burger in his belly to lead and he dropped the rest of his burger, uneaten, back on the plate, shrugging helplessly and keeping his eyes lowered.

 

“I'm fine,” he muttered.

 

“Yeah? Well, Cain's worried about you.”

 

Dean ignored the pang of fear, distress and anxiety that swirled through him at that statement, instead taking a large gulp of water from the glass in front of him, clearing his throat. “I just wanted to come into town for awhile.”

 

“Oh, well I coulda given you a ride, sweetheart--”

 

“I wanted to walk,” Dean cut in, steadfastly disregarding the tinges of hurt and confusion in Benny's mellow beta scent.

 

“Through the woods, with your duffel bag all packed, cher?” Disbelief colored Benny's tone.

 

Dean was saved from answering as the waitress came over to check on them. Benny declined to order any food, but when the waitress asked if Dean was finished with his meal, he nodded, only to have Benny pull his plate away from him, declaring he'd finish the rest of the food himself. The waitress left his check and departed as Benny munched away happily on the remains of Dean's burger.

 

Benny wiped his mouth with Dean's discarded napkin, eyeing him reproachfully. “You know better than to waste food, Michael.”

 

Dean flinched a little, but ignored him, keeping his eyes glued to the faded tabletop.

 

Benny burped, patting his stomach, before fixing his gaze on Dean. “You ready to go, cher?”

 

Dean peered up at him through his lashes. “Not right now.”

 

“Oh, no?”

 

Dean shook his head as Benny regarded him curiously, before shrugging and edging out of the booth. He leaned in as if to kiss Dean, but the omega shrunk away hastily, prompting a growl out of Benny. “Hey, don't do that.”

 

He paused a few scant inches away from Dean's mouth, noting his scrunched shut eyes and trembling frame.

 

“You're shaking like a leaf, cher, calm down, everything's fine.” He moved up a bit, scenting Dean as he went, gingery whiskers brushing the tip of Dean's nose as he planted a kiss on his forehead before finally straightening up.

 

“You take care of yourself, alright?”

 

Dean nodded mutely in reply, eyes still clamped closed, listening intently as Benny's footsteps grew farther away, the bell over the door tinkling for an extended period of time, as the beta lingered in the doorway. Dean felt his gaze heavy on the back of his neck, then the door finally fell shut with a gentle thud.

 

Only then did Dean draw in a deep breath and open his eyes.

 

He snuck a fervent glance over his shoulder, but Benny was gone. Hastily, he laid out some crumpled bills to cover his meal and a tip and scrambled out of the booth.

 

 

~*X*~

 

 

Dean fidgeted as the line rang for the fourth time, tapping his fingers restlessly against the metal casing of the phone booth. This was the second number for Sam he had tried, the first had been disconnected.

 

On the fifth ring, the line picked up, static crackling sharply, then Sam's voice, questioning. “Hello?”

 

Dean was shocked into silence for a moment. A small part of him had thought he may never hear his older brother's voice again.

 

“Hello?” Sam's voice sounded slightly distracted, as though he'd picked up while in the middle of doing something else.

 

Saliva filled his mouth and liquid heat scorched the back of his eyes. He heard rustling on Sam's end, before his brother repeated himself, a mild edge of irritation lining his tone now. “Hello?!”

 

“Hi,” Dean's voice cracked on that one small word, and he couldn't care enough to feel ashamed or embarrassed, all that mattered was Sam's voice on the other end of the line.

 

“...Dean? Is that you?!”

 

“Yeah,” Dean's voice was thick with unshed tears, sounding high and young, scared, even to his own ears.

 

“Where are you? Where have you been? Are you alright?” Dean could tell Sam was trying to sound restrained, but his urgency bled through anyways.

 

Dean hedged, not wanting to talk about anything that those questions pertained to. But he also knew his brother, and Sam could be like a dog with a bone if he didn't get answers. “I—I'm upstate, I think, Greene County, in the Northern Catskills. Little town called Tannersville.”

 

“You're in New York?” Sam's tone was just shy of flabbergasted, but Dean could also practically hear the gears turning in Sam's brain as he calculated the distance between them. It suddenly hit Dean that he had no idea where his brother lived anymore.

 

“Is that where you've been this whole time?”

 

Dean closed his eyes, panting for air as he leaned his forehead against the sun-warmed Plexiglas of the phone booth, Sam's questions washing over him like an insistent tide, threatening to drag him under and out to sea.

 

Thoughts and images jumbled up inside his brain and he couldn't seem to think.

All he knew was that he just wanted to go home.

 

“Dean? Dean! Are you there? What's wrong? Answer me!” Sam's panic poured through the phone like syrup and Dean felt uneasy, casting his gaze about, feeling as though eyes were on him.

 

“Um, I don't know...maybe...I should go back...” He trailed off, uncertain. Where was home anymore? Perhaps the farm was home now. Was he being bad, running away from home, from his family?

 

“Go back where, Dean? What..what happened to you? Did someone hurt you?”

 

Dean shook his head wildly. “I—I, uh, I should go. I can't stay gone, so, um...yeah. I just wanted to hear your voice again, Sammy.”

 

“Dean?! Don't hang up, I'm coming to get you, stay right where you are, I'm coming for you.” Sam's voice was on the shrill knife edge of hysteria, and Dean felt bad for worrying his brother like this. He wasn't worth it.

 

“I'm sorry for calling, I shouldn't have bothered you.” Dean whispered regretfully.

 

“No no no no no don't go, Dean! Find out where you are exactly and I will come get you right now.” Sam's tone had firmed up, trying to sound like the in-control alpha big brother he'd always prided himself on being.

 

“I can't wait that long,” Dean murmured, the tide of his thoughts rising, rising, pulling him into darkness. They might be coming back. He didn't see Benny, but, they might be coming back this very instant, to take him back home where he belonged. Cain wouldn't be happy if he had to punish Dean for this.

 

“Please, Dean, I want to see you, please stay there, I'm coming to get you.”

 

Sam's plaintive voice wormed its way inside him, a thin ray of hope that Dean latched onto desperately.

 

“Okay, okay, Sam.”

 

 

~*X*~

 

 

Dean slept curled up in as small a ball as manageable on the bench in front of the Greyhound bus station, head pillowed on his duffle bag.

 

Time passed in waves, marked by the susurrus of passing cars and the shadows of sunlight on the sidewalk.

 

However, sooner than he thought possible, a dark blue SUV pulled up in front of the bus station with a low rumble, which made Dean wake with a jerk, frightened. Cain had a car just like this, that he, along with Benny and others, used when they went out to look for new prospective members of their family.

 

Dean tensed, sure that behind the tinted windows, Cain was waiting, trying to decide how best to deal with him.

 

The door opened and Dean let out a breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding.

 

Like a mirage, Sam appeared, tanned and healthy, and impossibly, even taller than Dean remembered. His hair was longer than ever, a thick, lustrous mane that reached his shoulders. He wore a denim colored chambray shirt over dark wash jeans.

He smiled nervously at Dean, swallowing a couple times as he cautiously approached him.

 

Dean stared back at him hungrily, expecting this vision to blink out at any moment if he just closed his eyes, but no, Sam edged closer and closer until he was right in front of Dean, their gazes locked and searching.

 

Sam let out a muffled little sob before gathering Dean up in his arms and crushing him against his chest. Dean sagged against him heavily, as though his strings had been cut, not even bothering to bring his arms up to hug Sam back, just relishing in the sturdiness of Sam's all-encompassing embrace, his big brother's voice in his ear, chanting his name over and over again.

 

 

~*X*~

 

 

Dean let himself fall asleep on the drive back to wherever Sam called home now. Sam, surprisingly enough, let him, and Dean had the passing thought that Sam would most likely interrogate him later, but for now, he slept.

 

Dean was vaguely aware of Sam's fingers gently combing through his over-long hair, or just resting a hand on his arm or leg, as though Sam needed constant reassurance that his long-lost little brother was truly by his side once more.

 

When he awoke again, they were in the woods and for one, startled, terrified moment, Dean thought maybe Sam had brought him back to Cain's farm, but upon closer inspection, he realized these woods were different than the ones he'd left behind. Evergreens and pine instead of oaks and elms nestled all together.

 

They were parked in a gravel drive in front of a large two-story house, brown with green trim, a beautifully manicured lawn and a large, wraparound deck. He couldn't see any other houses nearby.

 

Dean trailed Sam up the stairs and inside the house, moving like a sleepwalker, too deep inside of himself to take in much. Sam chattered away aimlessly, and Dean just closed his eyes, following after the sound of his brother's voice like a siren song, just as he had since they were pups. Sam led him up another set of stairs, into a large, airy bedroom with lots of light. There was a queen bed, a night table and a dresser, clearly marking it as a guest room.

 

Sam directed him to set his duffle on the bed and then ushered him into the attached bathroom, pulling out plush bath towels and telling him where the extra toiletries were before leaving him to shower.

 

Dean was so fatigued he thought about skipping the shower til later, but in the end, bowed to his brother's wishes. Stepping under the spray felt so heavenly, he moaned involuntarily, and just stood there for long minutes, letting it beat down on him. After a while he roused himself enough to rub some shampoo into his hair, then lathered up with the bar of oatmeal soap Sam had left out for him. He rinsed off and stood there some more until the water started to cool slightly before finally emerging and wrapping up in one of the thick heather grey towels on the counter.

 

It felt strange to be this clean. Living in a house with so many other people and only two bathrooms, meant limited showers, and short ones at that. He'd often showered with Benny or others simultaneously to save on time and water. Cain's goal had been to live off the land as cleanly and cost efficiently as possible. They grew crops and vegetable gardens, raised livestock and chickens for meat, eggs, butter and milk. Kept bees for honey and wax candles to sell in town. They'd even dug a well the summer before last. It was a simpler kind of life, which Dean had initially liked the idea of, until it had turned into something else.

 

Still, he had missed long, hot showers and amazing water pressure..

 

Sam was waiting for him on the bed when he eventually wandered out of the bathroom. Sitting on the very edge of the bed, fingers nervously clasped together, he jumped up at Dean's approach.

 

Dean waved him off and plopped down bonelessly on the bed, gazing up at his brother tiredly.

 

Sam sat back down next to him, carefully, as though Dean was fragile and might break at the slightest pressure.

 

Who knew, maybe it was true.

 

Sam glanced over at him, his gaze darting away just as quickly. “You're dripping all over the place,” he told Dean with a lopsided smile as he hopped up again and went into the bathroom, returning with another thick towel, retaking his place next to Dean before he began gently drying off Dean's back, slowly moving up to pat his damp hair dry.

 

Dean leaned into the touch, even as a niggling voice at the back of his mind tried to remind him why it was a bad idea. He felt himself sinking into Sam, til his face was pressed against that long, smooth throat, where he could take in great, deep gulps of Sam's perfect alpha scent that exuded a sense of security and comfort, of old leather bound books and fresh cut grass, hot and sweet from the sun. He felt the shivery intake of breath as Sam swallowed loudly before clearing his throat and Dean drew back, feeling as though he may have overstepped his bounds and made his brother uncomfortable.

 

“Cas should be back from the city soon, and then I'll make us some dinner, okay?” Sam told him conversationally, as though Dean had just come up to spend the weekend with them. Dean could feel the effort Sam was making to inject a sense of normalcy to all of this; the three years Dean had basically been missing for, lurked in the room with them, a ghost that had yet to give itself up.

 

The weariness he felt, went bone deep, perhaps even further than that, a soul sickness that sleep couldn't cure, but he'd damn well give it a try. He was too tired to even ask who Cas was, but he assumed this person was Sam's omega, and of course his brother had an omega mate by now. Sam was a catch no matter which way you looked at it, yet Dean couldn't help the spike of jealousy, long held, that shot through him with all the intensity of a lightning strike. Maybe calling Sam today had been a bad idea.

 

“I'm pretty tired, you mind if I just go to bed?” Dean peeked up at Sam through his lashes, unable to look at his brother for too long, too afraid of what telling emotions might be read on his face, yet also too starved for the sight of him to keep his eyes averted for very long either.

 

Sam continued to mother-hen him, forced cheeriness covering up the concern that laid thick in his alpha scent as he chirped, “Sure. Just get a good night's sleep tonight and I'm sure you'll be right as rain tomorrow.”

 

Dean sincerely doubted that, but he smiled weakly for Sam's sake as his brother got up off the bed and headed for the door, pausing there.

 

“I'll bring you some chamomile tea to help you sleep, okay?”

 

Dean nodded and watched Sam disappear around the corner before he curled up in a little ball at the end of the bed, letting loose a heavy sigh as he got comfortable, still swaddled in the plush towel. He was asleep before Sam even came back with his tea.

 

 

~*X*~

 

 

Sam sat alone down in the kitchen, twilight settling into the room like a mist as he stared out at the lake, visible through the windows. His hands were clenched around the mug of tea he'd made for his brother. One thought on his mind.

 

Dean. His little brother. Gone. Missing for nearly three years. Back again, now, safe and sound, upstairs in the guest bedroom. Passed out asleep, huddled up in the fetal position like a frightened child.

 

Where had he been? What the hell had happened to him?

 

These thoughts chased after themselves, over and over, like a dog trying to catch its own tail.

 

Maybe it didn't matter so much right now. Right now, what was important, was that Dean was here, and he seemed, physically at least, to be okay.

 

However, Sam couldn't shake the feeling that something was off; he knew his own brother, had practically raised him and Dean _was_ different, changed somehow and Sam would do whatever it took to help him get better.

 

He heard Cas' car pull in presently and waited patiently til his mate came climbing up the stairs from the garage. Cas made his way over, setting his things down on the couch before he came close and enveloped Sam in a warm hug from behind. Sam smiled, feeling calmer already, and turned his head to get a chaste kiss from Cas, who readily gave it, lingering as he scented Sam, picking up on the mild distress and concern.

 

He leaned back a little so he could see Sam's face. “Well?”

 

Sam nodded eagerly. “He's here. He seems...okay, physically, that is.”

 

“And otherwise?”

 

“I—I, uh, I dunno, Cas. Dean seems off, quieter, hollowed out or something. Broken.” Sam finished in a whisper, as though afraid saying these thoughts out loud might make them true.

 

Cas was calm as ever though, and just nodded in understanding, his brow furrowed thoughtfully. “What did he say?”

Sam sighed. “Not much, he's really tired, he slept for practically the whole drive home. He's asleep now, too. He said he was living with his boyfriend in some hippie commune up in the Catskills. But I think there's a lot more to it than that. I know my brother and that doesn't sound like something he'd ever do.”

 

“People change, Sam, they grow up and have new experiences and learn about themselves as a person, maybe that's all this was--” Cas tried to suggest reasonably, but Sam shook his head violently until his hair was swishing around his shoulders.

 

“No. No...well, maybe, but I know Dean...something happened. Maybe it started out like that, but when he called me today, he was terrified, nearly hysterical. The Dean I remember was strong and fierce, and didn't take shit from anybody. So, no, I don't believe that's all there is to it. Someone did something to my brother and I'm gonna find out what!”

 

“Okay, okay, Sam I believe you, and we'll do whatever it takes. We'll all get through this together.” Cas soothed, hugging Sam tightly, smoothing down his hair as he consoled him.

 

~*X*~

 

**Author's Note:**

> SO..thoughts? Comments? Tell me what ya think :-)


End file.
